by Chloe Carley
She crawled beneath the covers and closed her eyes, letting the sounds of the house settle around her.
“God, it’s Riley again. I know You and me haven’t been on the best of speaking terms these last several months. I’m sorry I blamed You for letting Mother and Father die. I know You would have saved them if that had been in Your plans. I’m also sorry I’ve been complaining so much.
“Well, I’m here now, in El Paso. I came all this way and Roy isn’t even here. Could You give him a little nudge? I’m awfully tired of being alone. I just want a house to call my own and to be with people who care about me. I know You could make all of that happen. I guess I’m asking for some guidance here. Send Roy to town so that we can be a family once more. Thank you.”
She listened for a moment, hoping she’d get some kind of sign that God had heard her prayer, but all she heard were the steps of someone else coming up the stairs. She sighed and rolled over, tucking her hands beneath her cheek. In moments, she was fast asleep.
Chapter 4
The next morning, she awakened, hopeful that today her brother would show up to collect her. She climbed from the bed, stretched her arms to the ceiling and strolled to the window. She pulled back the curtains and soaked up the bright sunshine outside.
“Good morning, Lord. Today’s going to be a good day, I just know it.” She quickly washed and dressed for the day. She had a few aches and pains from traveling the last several days, but she ignored them. She couldn’t wait to see Roy’s ranch and get settled in. She hung her bonnet over her arm, refusing to put it on until she absolutely had to. She navigated the steep staircase and joined the others in the kitchen.
“Good morning, dear. Did you sleep well?” Mrs. Jensen inquired.
“I did, yes. What may I help with?”
“Not a thing. Have a seat. Do you drink coffee?”
“No, ma’am.”
“Then how about a nice cup of tea?”
“Tea would be lovely.” Riley stepped further into the kitchen. “If you’ll direct me to where the supplies are, I can get it.” Riley was a conundrum to most people. She’d much prefer to be in boy’s trousers than a skirt, but when it came to cooking, the kitchen was her domain. Her ma had made sure Riley knew how to act like a young lady, with cooking and cleaning, sewing, music lessons, painting, and all manner of book learning provided for her. Her ma had come from back East and had received a classical education and had insisted her only daughter receive the same.
She’d also insisted that the family attend church every Sunday, taking their places in the front pew and listening intently to the preacher’s sermon. Riley hadn’t minded, except for knowing that everyone else was always watching her.
It had been important to sit with her back straight, her eyes forward, and make sure she responded at the appropriate time. She’d loved when Roy was still at home because he would always do whatever he could to try and make her giggle.
Their mother would shoot him a disapproving look, and then she would receive a lecture about propriety and setting a good example.
Riley hadn’t really minded. She loved her brother and she missed the closeness they’d once shared. She hoped to find that again now that she was here in El Paso. She was tired of being alone.
It had just been her and her brother, and with Roy being so much older than she was, she’d felt like an only child most of the time. Her pa had been the exact opposite of her ma.
He’d grown up riding and roping horses and livestock. Each day after Riley finished her lessons, she’d rushed to her bedroom, changed her clothing, snuck out of her bedroom window and shimmied down the trellis to join her pa and the other ranch hands in the barns and corrals.
She’d trained her own horse, Silver, from the time she was a foal, but sadly she’d been forced to sell her along with the rest of her parents’ belongings.
She’d not known that her pa had indebted the ranch to such an extent and when the bank man had come calling, Riley had been taken completely off guard. She’d been even more distraught when the banker had suggested she could settle the ranch debt by agreeing to be his second wife. His first had died a year earlier during childbirth, as had the baby.
Riley had been disgusted by such an offer and had immediately made it known that the ranch and everything else was for sale.
She’d sent a telegram to Roy, asking him to come home and help her, but all she’d gotten back was one sentence that now wasn’t a good time and he was sure she could handle everything. Riley had been hurt, at first, but decided that she needed to go to him. If he was really that busy, he must need help and she had nothing else to do.
His missive had been sent from the El Paso, Texas office.
That had been several months ago and now here she was, ready to begin the next phase of her life.
“Dear, is everything alright?” Mrs. Jensen inquired softly.
Riley blushed. “Just woolgathering.”
“That’s quite alright. I’ve been known to do that myself from time to time. The tea is in the first cupboard on your right. There’s hot water on the hearth.”
Riley found what she needed and set about making a nice stout cup of tea. She joined the others at the long kitchen table and listened as the two other women discussed their activities for the day. Mrs. Jensen also listened, offering a piece of advice here and there, when it was warranted or asked for.
“And you, dear? What are your plans for the day?”
“I truly haven’t given it much thought. I’m hoping my brother will arrive today. I’m afraid something has happened to him. I saw those wanted posters, yesterday on my walk. Those men look to be very dangerous.”
“Yes, they are. If your brother has run afoul of them …”
When Jensen didn’t finish her sentence, Riley’s heart sank. The hopeful attitude she’d awakened with slowly started to evaporate. “I’m sure he’s okay.”
“Well, those Johnston gang members are going to wind up swinging from their necks, mark my words. There’s enough people in El Paso that they should think twice before showing their faces here.”
“It looked like there is an Indian leading them?” Riley inquired.
“An Indian? Well, not that I know of. The leader does go by a Comanche name, Tseena. Its meaning is very appropriate for describing someone so ruthless.”
“Tseena?”
“Yes. It’s the Comanche word for Wolf, but if the rumors are true, the man is as white as you and I. He’s not an Indian.”
“I heard the army was hunting him and his gang,” one of the other women commented. She stuck out her hand. “I’m Louisa, by the way. I’m going to be one of the new schoolteachers here.”
“A schoolteacher? How wonderful, and yet, I’m very glad it’s you and not me,” Riley told her. “I love to read, but I’m not so good around small children.”
Riley had once tried to be a helper at the local school several years earlier, but had ended up having too much fun for the stiff Mr. Carlton who had been in charge of the students and the faculty.
Finding Riley sitting in a tree, along with several of the older children, had been the final straw--he had succinctly told her to find someplace else to be the coming morning. Riley had almost thanked him for releasing her from the torture of having to be there each morning. Shehad run home, changed into her trousers, and spent the rest of the day working alongside her pa and the other ranch hands.
Her ma had been the most upset, launching into one of her rare tirades and bemoaning the fact that at eighteen, Riley was destined to wind up an old maid because no man would ever want to court her when she was always challenging his abilities. Her pa had simply patted her hand, and reminded her that God had the perfect man out there for her and she didn’t need to be in any hurry. Thinking about her parents always brought sadness to her heart, and she now pushed it aside. “I hope you won’t have any problems with the children.”
“You get used to them.” Louisa gave her a soft sm
ile.“The former schoolteacher just moved to California, but the small rooms attached to the schoolhouse haven’t been cleaned out yet. That’s my job for the next several days, and then I can move in and get settled before classes begin.”
Riley offered, “I’m not doing anything for… well, until my brother comes for me. Would you like some help?”
Louisa gave her an incredulous look. “Truly, you wouldn’t mind?”
“Not at all. My ma always said that idle hands were an invitation to the devil. I’d rather be busy than letting mischief find me.” Or thinking about all of the horrible things that could have happened to Roy to delay him.
“Very well said, my dear.” Mrs. Jensen smiled at both of them. “I’ll leave you girls to figure out things. I have an appointment with my new granddaughter. She’s three weeks old today and I promised my daughter I would come over and help her process some of the garden today. You’ll have to fend for yourselves tonight for supper.”
“Don’t worry about us,” Louisa assured her. “We will figure something out. Will you be staying the night again?”
“Oh, yes. Probably several. The sheriff offered to drive me out there on his way to meet up with the army regiment camped just beyond the town borders.”
“If you happen to see Captain Young, would you tell him hello from me?” Louisa inquired, a blush staining her cheeks.
Mrs. Jensen made a tsking sound. “I’ll do nothing of the sort. If that young captain wants to come courting, he’ll do so with proper supervision, not because he knows the rooster is away from the hen house.” Mrs. Jensen narrowed her eyes at all of them before shaking her head and leaving the kitchen.
Silence surrounded the three women for a long moment, and then Louisa and the other woman, Allie, started laughing softly. Riley joined them, asking, “Did she just compare herself to a rooster?”
Allie snorted and covered her mouth and nose with both hands while Louisa laughed even harder and answered, “Yes. She’s determined to protect us from ourselves, but if we allowed that, we’d all die old maids. She has some very old-fashioned ideas about men and women.”
“You can say that again,” Allie replied, gaining control of herself once more. “When Charlie escorted me home two nights ago, Mrs. Jensen was waiting up for us and she came out and sat on the porch, to provide an adequate chaperone.”
“Goodness, she takes her self-appointed job very seriously, doesn’t she?” Riley inquired.
“Very seriously. Now, why don’t we get changed and we’ll head over to the schoolhouse and see what progress can be made today? Allie, care to join us?” Louisa asked with a smirk.
“No, I think I’ll wander over to the church and see if Charlie needs any help.”
“Church?” Riley asked, confused.
“Charlie is actually Reverend Samuels. He’s a bachelor and very smitten with Allie here,” Louisa answered. “They’ve been seeing one another ever since Allie answered that mail order bride advertisement and arrived in El Paso, only to find out the man she’d been corresponding with was almost seventy years of age and had died three days before her arrival.”
Riley’s eyebrows rose. She looked at the young woman, surprised that someone so comely would have to resort to agreeing to marry someone she’d never even met. Allie was cute with dark brown hair, deep brown eyes, and freckles scattered across her nose, indicating she’d spent a fair amount of time outside.
Riley’s own mother had always bemoaned the appearance of freckles on her skin, but Riley hadn’t cared.
She would have rather been covered in freckles and know what it felt like to ride roughshod over the land than to have a creamy complexion and never have stepped foot outside of the drawing room. It was a moot point now, but Riley could hear her mother’s voice in her head at times.
Riley tried to hide her surprise and asked, “You were a mail order bride?”
Allie pulled a face and sighed loudly. “Well, I tried to be, but it seems that Mr. Clark was a bit heavy with the fabrications and then had the good sense to remove himself from the equation by going to meet his maker before my arrival.”
“Your husband died before you even got here?”
“Not exactly. We were to have been married upon my arrival, but instead of finding Mr. Clark waiting at the train station for me, it was the undertaker. It seems that Mr. Clark had a weak heart and I met Charlie when he came to show me the fresh grave. I didn’t know what to do or where to go and I didn’t have enough money for a return trip back home. The undertaker brought me here to Mrs. Jensen’s house to stay while I figured out what I was going to do next.”
“That was two months ago,” Louisa whispered loudly.
“I refuse to rush into anything ever again. Look where it got me last time,” Allie defended herself. You’re lucky, you still have family. I have no one and nothing waiting for me back East, so I’m here to stay. Charlie will eventually propose again …”
“Again?” Louisa demanded. “Why didn’t you accept? What are you waiting for?”
“I wasn’t ready the first time. Anyway, he will propose again, and I’ll say yes and then become Mrs. Charlie Samuels. I’ll make a wonderful preacher’s wife, don’t you think?” she asked Louisa.
“Yes, of course you will. Visiting the sick and the new babies. You’ll be wonderful at it,” Louisa assured her.
Allie smiled serenely. “I know I will.”
Louisa and Riley exchanged a look. Louisa shook her head and stood up, depositing her dishes in the pan. “Allie, since you’re not going to be doing anything else productive this morning, would you mind cleaning up after breakfast?”
Allie nodded. “Consider it done. Just leave them there and I’ll take care of them before I head over to the church.”
Riley smiled her appreciation. “Thank you and good luck with your young man today.”
She followed Louisa up the stairs and they both disappeared into their separate rooms with a promise to meet in twenty minutes on the front steps. Riley quickly changed into her work dress, wishing her brother would show up today.
She eyed her attire, wishing she had access to the folded-up trousers buried at the bottom of one of her trunks. They would be much more appropriate for cleaning and moving and whatever else today would bring, but these people didn’t know her.
Even if she could retrieve her belongings from the train station, she couldn’t very well go about dressed like a boy and expect them to just ignore the fact. Somehow, she doubted that Mrs. Jensen would be okay with one of her female boarders wearing boy’s trousers.
There was also the fact that this was Roy’s town and the last thing she wanted to do was embarrass him. Hopefully, he lived far enough away from town that she could dress as she liked and avoid coming to town any more than was absolutely necessary. That would be a blessing.
One she would rejoice in, if she ever had the chance to see if it were true. Her brother used to be one of the most considerate men she’d ever known.
He was never late and he never forgot a promise, and his word was good as the Good Book itself.If Roy told you he was going to do something, you could count on him. At least, the brother she remembered had been that way.
The Roy she’d known three years ago would have never been so inconsiderate as to be this late without sending some sort of message about the reason why. She sent up a silent prayer that her brother hadn’t run afoul of the dangerous Johnston gang.
When she heard Louisa’s door open and close, she pushed those thoughts aside and joined her new friend. Louisa had changed into a cream and blue pinstriped dress with a matching blue apron that covered her bosom and her skirts. She’d secured her hair beneath a bonnet and Riley realized she’d forgotten hers. She retrieved it and joined Louisa in the drawing room.
